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Topic: A tale of two store bought sauces (Read 5321 times)

So often on this site I see discussion of sauce. I myself struggle with this more than anything else. T'wood seem that for anyone making pizza at home that sauce would be the least of their concerns, yet it often is the one ingredient that many cannot quite dial in. I'm still 'sperimenting with tomatoes and canned sauces to work this out. I've seen many videos of Piazzaiolos simply using canned San-Marzi's as their sauce w/o spices. I've even eaten in joints like this and the sauce is fine. Just having a little trouble with this at home.

Many of us have tried many a bottled sauce with marginal results. One highly recommended jarred sauce is Enricos. It is considered sort of bland but many have said that it has the potential of being "herbed" up. I've tried this with dismal results. Recently I tried a new sauce....none other than "Trader Joe's". Interesting it was that not only was the jar the same size and shape, but other than the color of the lid the two were almost exactly the same including the hatch marks in the bottom. This led me to believe that this was Enrico's with a TJ label. Not so. IMHO much better than Enricos. Much more flavor, brighter, and much more punch.

While I truly intend to develop my own sauce, I've got a lot of pies to make, and will have to rely on some jarred sauce until I develop my own. Just wonder if anyone else has used the TJ sauce and what you think of it? I've got another on deck to try, but quite frankly I think this is going to be hard to beat out of the bottle.

I'm with @widespreadpizza on this one, all you need is some good canned crushed tomatoes and you can add anything you like.Here's a list of brands to try, in addition to the Pastene's look for Sclafani, Classico, Pastosa, Cora or anything from the Stanislaus and Escalon line. Hell, in a pinch even Walmart's GV crushed tomatoes will be far better then just about all jarred sauces.

I'm with @widespreadpizza on this one, all you need is some good canned crushed tomatoes and you can add anything you like.Here's a list of brands to try, in addition to the Pastene's look for Sclafani, Classico, Pastosa, Cora or anything from the Stanislaus and Escalon line

Escalon is Classico and IMHO does not belong on any type of "thin" pie. Too sweet and I know many on this site use them for this purpose but IMHO they are for DD pies...period! Have not used any Stanislaus products and not sure I'll M.O. any. What I can say about the TJ brand is that it is superior to any other jarred sauceto date, that includes Erico's. I'll eventually develop my own...but for now TJ's jarred is the one to beat.

When I started making pizza I researched sauces extensively on professional pizza sites. One thing that came up time and time again was that the sauce, while made from canned tomatoes, was not cooked. Pizza sauce is meant to cook on the pizza not in a pot. The problem with all canned/jarred sauces is that they taste cooked, well they are cooked, they have to be to be put in a jar and have a shelf life. Most importantly, the seasonings are cooked in the canning process, which is why they can be sort of OK if you add fresh spices/herbs/seasonings. (notice that was the first recommendation you received here)

If you want a professional pizza flavor, use a good "fresh pack or no citric acid" puree/ground tomato and season it to your liking. Here is a link to a matrix from some time ago... Use any ground/pureed tomato you want for the 6-in-1, I recommend Classico from WalMart.

Sounds like you're sold on jarred sauce, so just stick with that and don't ask questions.

Well...obviously my response came across wrong. I've tried and tried to herb up 6 in 1's and to me they do not have the tomato timbre I'm looking for in a Ny/Neo type pie. They are fantastic for DD pies as they really balance off the heavy toppings and semolina/cornmeal crust. I even like the taste of 6 in 1 by the teaspoon right out of the can. I'm going to give the Pastene a try. These and Sun of Italy are two brands I almost never see discussed on this site so I've passed them over. Red Pack are somewhat disappointing, however not nearly as much as Tuttorosso. I'd also like to give Cento another try.

Mykall. I apologize that people want to trash on your thread. I understand that you want to share what you thought of certain jar sauces for people who are struggling to narrow down their own or simply want to experiment with different flavors. Different people want to try different things for what is ultimately their pizza. We often get too caught up in rules such as "oh no way sugar belongs in that" or "its a crime to put cheddar on that". Well, that last one is kinda true

Anyways, I have been focusing on my dough and found that my constant expirementing with different cheese and sauce (to dial in the right ones) was giving too many variables to have any real results. Trying to develop my sauce, AND develop my dough, AND finding the right cheese all at the same time led me through a looong slump in my pizza making. To fix this I have been using jarred Classico brand pizza sauce and IMO its pretty darn good. Not GREAT, but it makes a good generic base. Using whole milk Sorrento cheese gives me pretty much the same results in the cheese department but this is a sauce thread and i won't go into that too much either. Recently I have got my crust right where I want it to be and made my first batch of sauce using Classico crushed tomatoes and powdered McCormick brand herbs. The herbs turned out disgustingly strong yet the sauce was still delicious, I am going to dial it back next batch. I can see the superiority of the canned tomatoes over the jarred sauce but the jar sure helped me get to where I was.

I have never used a store bought sauce before. Because it is so easy to make a pizza sauce from scratch, in 15-20min. I start with a 28oz can of crushed tomatoes, which i drain all the juices. I then cook the juices with a mild boil to render out as much water, without sticking to the pan then cool it to room temp. Next in goes a 6oz can of tomato paste into the crushed tomatoes. Whisk together the tomatoes. Add garlic and onion powder, oregano, basil and whatever else you want to suit your taste. Whisk till smooth. Add the rendered little bit of juices, when the juices are rendered properly, it'll look like a few tablespoons of canned tomato sauce. Add a splash of EVO, and whisk together. Sometimes I will omit the onion powder and EVO. And replace it with finely minced onions, sauteed in EVO. If you don't saute the onions, it gives the sauce a slight bitter taste. I can't give exact measurements. I've always made my pizza sauce on the fly. And have always used a name brand of canned tomatoes. This is the way I learned from being from an Italian family.

On edit, it took me longer to type this than it takes me to make sauce.

I have used both canned/jarred and homemade sauce. My homemade I always use Puree, Hunt's brand as we really don't have any Italian markets here in Tulsa. At any rate, whether I make my own or buy my sauce, I always add a dash of cayenne pepper in it.

Thanks all for the responses. I've got a pantry full of different canned/crushed tomatoes to experiment with. When I started this years ago I always thought the dough would be the toughest part, and in some ways it is, depending on the type of pie. But dialing in a sauce can still be a challenge. I'm still mystified at some pizzeria's sauce and just how it ties the pie together and how they make it. I'm beginning to revisit the tried and true..."less is more" principle and if true it will be just a matter of finding the right whole or crushed tomatoes.

I am also in experimenting mode when it comes to sauce. Sometimes I go to my favorite pizzeria and purchase a large cup of pizza sauce from them. Most places are willing to do that for you and will only charge you a dollar or two.

But my favorite pizza sauce is made by Stanislaus Food and is called "PIZZAIOLO". I think it is the best sauce in a # 10 can. More than you need for one pizza, but you can freeze what you don't use or store it in the fridge for a few weeks.

Nearly every Pizzeria uses some kind of Stanislaus Foods Products (at least in my area) whether it is Pizziaiolo, Full Red, 7/11, Tomato Magic, Saporito, SuperDolce, etc.. Even many of the pizza chains have their signature sauce made by Stanislaus (just take a look in the kitchen if you can). My Point again: Why not use what Stanislaus Foods considers to be the most Authentic Pizza Sauce, "Pizzaiolo, since they make sauce for so many Pizzerias. I don't think you can go wrong with it. Also, you can always add extra spices if you want a different flavor, but most people, like me, use it right out of the can. (Worth trying for under $5.00 for a number 10 can)

Sauce can be very subjective. I had some pizza with friends, from their go to backup joint. They thought it was great. I tasted the onion in the sauce and thought it was awful. I used to put fresh garlic in my sauce, but eventually decided it was too much bite. For several years now I've been using crushed San Marzano's. Either run through the magic bullet and then some added dried garlic and fresh basil, or straight out of the can with fresh basil and white mozz. No paste and no drain; just open and go. I've tried other brands because of price, and I always go back to the SMs. I often make one white tomato pie and one sauce pie. Something I learned that has made a huge difference is to open a can and scoop out only what I need for one pie. I turn that into sauce, and I freeze the remainder for later use. The cans run me $3.59 a piece. If I don't like how the sauce turns out, at least I haven't wrecked a whole can.